The Mir Crew Safety Record: Implications for Space Colonization

Abstract

[Abstract] In 1985, Rockwell International (now Boeing-North American) completed the Space Station Crew Safety Alternatives Study for NASA. This five-volume study identified a wide range of potential safety threats and hazards that the crew might encounter on the future International Space Station. These threats included fire, explosion, collision, decompression, contamination, and radiation, among many others. One volume focused on the human factors aspects of safety, featuring the Crew Safety-Human Factors Interaction Model. In this model, a stressor (such as one of the threats) can lead to degraded performance, which can contribute to human error, unless appropriate and effective countermeasures are available to the crew. In 1986, the Soviet Union launched the Mir Space Station, the "second generation" that followed the Salyut series of space stations. The Mir was designed for a five-year life on orbit. It remained in use for fourteen years. During the first ten years, it performed well, with few safety issues. However, during the last four years, the aging station --operating at more than two times beyond its design lifetime --encountered a variety of safety hazards and human factors issues. Despite these often serious problems, the Mir crews always found a way to save the station, and no crew member was seriously injured or killed. This paper evaluates the safety record on Mir, and compares it to the NASA-Rockwell study, that was contemporaneous with the construction and launch of Mir. This comparison and analysis can provide a foundation for future space crew safety, related human factors support, and ultimately the human colonization of space.

Neuropsychological considerations for long-duration deep spaceflight

“…Mission commander, astronaut Bob Overmyer, indicated that Wang was depressed over the failure of his experiment (Reichhardt, 2002). Similarly, after receiving the news of his mother's passing, Mir 18 Commander Vladimir Dezhurov separated from the crew and secluded himself in a module for days (Dudley-Rowley, 2006). Despite the emotional toll of losing a parent, extreme response to grief may be influenced by compromised emotion regulation processes.…”

“…For example, both American and Russian psychologists expressed concerns regarding astronaut John Blaha's readiness for a long-duration mission on the Mir. And indeed, Blaha was later reported to experience depression and anger bursts during the mission (Dudley-Rowley, 2006). Given advancements in measures and greater access to more comprehensive sets of behavioral, cognitive, and neural data, psychological screening should adopt a neuropsychological approach and integrate the multitude of information sources to draw more informed conclusions and make more accurate predictions about astronauts' strengths, weaknesses, and potential risks.…”

Astrosociology and the Planning of Space Ecosystems

“…Examples include territoriality; volume limitations or overcrowding; noise; housekeeping issues; hygiene/cleanliness problems; life support issues in a closed atmospheric system; confinement, isolation, and separation; scheduling and coordination conflicts; boredom and monotony; lighting issues (as previously discussed); and emotional outbursts and mental illness. 12 The pre-launch planning and training process can eliminate some of these problems and reduce the severity of others.…”

An Astrosociological Approach to Defining Indigenous Martian Architecture

“…The paradigm shift in Mars planning and design cognition that would have occurred in the 1980s and 1990s had the Apollo program continued has not yet happened. NASA mission planners and designers were still demonstrating short-duration cognition during the NASA-Mir missions of the 1995-1998 (Burrough 1998, 7 Dudley-Rowley 2006 8 ). However, long-duration planning and design cognition means more than "duration."…”